Above all, it was urged that he was not of the true religion, that he hated the professors of that faith in his heart, and that it was extremely unwise for men whose dearest interests were their religious ones, to elect a sovereign of opposite creed to their own.  To these plausible views the Prince of Orange and those who acted with him, had, however; sufficient answers.  The Netherlands had waited long enough for assistance from other quarters.  Germany would not lift a finger in the cause; on the contrary, the whole of Germany, whether Protestant or Catholic, was either openly or covertly hostile.  It was madness to wait till assistance came to them from unseen sources.  It was time for them to assist themselves, and to take the best they could get; for when men were starving they could not afford to be dainty.  They might be bound, hand and foot, they might be overwhelmed a thousand times before they would receive succor from Germany, or from any land but France.  Under the circumstances in which they found themselves, hope delayed was but a cold and meagre consolation.

“To speak plainly,” said Orange, “asking us to wait is very much as if you should keep a man three days without any food in the expectation of a magnificent banquet, should persuade him to refuse bread, and at the end of three days should tell him that the banquet was not ready, but that a still better one was in preparation.  Would it not be better, then, that the poor man, to avoid starvation, should wait no longer, but accept bread wherever he might find it?  Such is our case at present.”

It was in this vein that he ever wrote and spoke:  The Netherlands were to rely upon their own exertions, and to procure the best alliance, together with the most efficient protection possible.  They were not strong enough to cope singlehanded with their powerful tyrant, but they were strong enough if they used the instruments which Heaven offered.  It was not trusting but tempting Providence to wait supinely, instead of grasping boldly at the means of rescue within reach.  It became the character of brave men to act, not to expect.  “Otherwise,” said the Prince, “we may climb to the top of trees, like the Anabaptists of Munster, and expect God’s assistance to drop from the clouds.”  It is only by listening to these arguments so often repeated, that we can comprehend the policy of Orange at thin period.  “God has said that he would furnish the ravens with food, and the lions with their prey,” said he; “but the birds and the lions do not, therefore, sit in their nests and their lairs waiting for their food to descend from heaven, but they seek it where it is to be found.”  So also, at a later day, when events seemed to have justified the distrust so, generally felt in Anjou, the Prince; nevertheless, held similar language.  “I do not,” said he, calumniate those who tell us to put our trust in God.  That is my opinion also.  But it is trusting God to use the means which he places in our hands, and to ask that his blessings may come upon them.